Sunday, January 08, 2006

An upside down onion pie

Yetanotherrecipe from Nigella'sHow to Be a Domestic Goddess: Baking and the Art of Comfort Cooking. It is cold and windy in Edinburgh these days, and I needed something heartwarming and comforting to eat last night. Being a proud recent owner of a tarte tatin dish, I thought to use my new kitchenware for something savoury. I remembered Nigella's recipe for "Supper Onion Pie" that I had bookmarked a while ago, and that's what I cooked. I followed the recipe pretty much to the letter, except that I used some Dutch cheese instead of Cheddar, brought by a kind visitor from Amsterdam a few weeks ago. And whereas Nigella sprinkles the same cheese on the onions as well, I used a lovely Irish blue cheese Cachel Blue instead, as I thought - rightly - that a strong-flavoured cheese would work very well with the sweet onions.

Another definite keeper that would be really lovely as a light vegetarian supper.

Upside down red onion pie(Pahupidi sibulapirukas)Very slightly adapted from How To Be A Domestic GoddessServes 6

Peel the onions, cut into half and then each half into 4-5 segments, depending on the size. Heat oil and butter in a non-stick or thick-bottomed saucepan and sweat the onions for 20-30 minutes on a low heat, stirring regularly to prevent sticking, until the onions are soft and slightly golden on edges.

Season with salt, pepper and thyme, and layer at the bottom of a deep pie dish. I buttered the dish slightly before adding the onions, then sprinkled with some Blue Cachel cheese.

Mix flour, baking powder, salt and grated cheese in a bowl. In another bowl mix the melted butter, milk, mustard and egg. Mix the contents of the two bowls with a wooden spoon. Dip the mixture onto a cutting board, form into a fat disc the size of the pie dish and transfer onto the onions.

Bake at 180-200˚C for about 30 minutes, until the scone dough is golden and baked. Let it cool for 5 minutes, then cover with a serving dish and carefully flip over.

Serve hot or warm with HP Sauce or brown sauce (as recommended by Nigella herself) or with a dollop of sour cream (as I did).

This looks delicious Pille and it's making me really hungry...I simply love red onions - not only do they look wonderful but also taste so much better. In fact we just cooked a red onion recipe the other day, which I'll post about in the next few days.

Hi Pille, I love the sound of this recipe. And just like Paz I would like to know what a tarte tatin dish looks like - well, I own a tart dish, but is a tarte tatin dish helpful when it comes to the thrilling moment of flipping the whole goodness ??? However, thanks for sharing and looking forward to you next posts, kind regards, angelika

Oh, that looks wonderful and also it works well with my no-food-shopping.except-fresh-veggies. As luck would have it, I have some blue cheese both in the freezer and the fridge so I can make both this pie and the walnuts/cheese crackers! And I am beginning to think I will have to buy something of Nigella´s work...

Angelika - tarte tatin dish is probably helpful in the sense that the thicker base makes it less likely that you burn the "filling" bit (as happened to my cranberries on the first time). As I cooked onions in a separate saucepan here first, it wasn't essential here. It also has a small rim, which makes flipping over easier. I think..

Clivia - I had the blue cheese in the fridge because I had just made another batch of blue cheese and walnut biscuits for a fellow foodblogger:) And yes, I'd recommend Nigella's books. I have How to Eat, How To Be A Domestic Goddess, and Feast, and I'd definitely recommend the last two.

BNA - well, my first was the chocolate orange cake and few years on, it's still on my menu often. And re: Cachel Blue - I was pretty pleased with that impromptu touch myself:)

Melissa - well, if we have same tatin dishes (Silverwood?), then this should turn out pretty much the same in your kitchen, too. Although I suspect your photo will be zillion times more stylish and professional!

Pille - I tried this last night, and I was blown away by the simplicity of the recipe! I did it with a mixture of red and white onions and used Danablu blue cheese, and it worked really well! I can't believe I've owned the Goddess book for over two years and not tried this before?